Bait and tackle box



W. S. COLE.

BAIT AND TACKLE BOX.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 2a. 1916.

1,332,202. Patented Mar.2,1920.

WITNESSES UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

"WALTER S. COLE, OF MARINETTE, WISCONSIN.

BAIT AND TACKLE BOX.

Application filed November 23, 1916;

To all whom it may concern 2 Be it known that I, WALTER S. Conn, a citizen of the United States, residing at Marinette, in the county of Marinette. and State of WVisconsin, have invented a new and useful Bait and Tackle Box, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in bait and tackle boxes which are adapted to be strapped to the person of the fisherman, and the objects of my improvement are to provide a box in which both bait and tackle may be carried in. separate compartments, access to each of which is obtained by the manipulation of a spring pressed cover, and the covers of which are both held in either open or closed position by a single spring, thus increasing the handiness of the device.

In the drawing which forms a part of this specification,

Figure 1 shows the complete box in perspective with one compartment open, parts being broken away and the springs of the hinge being omitted.

Fig. 2 shows a vertical cross section through the box taken at the middle of its length, with. both compartments open.

Fig. 3 shows a perspective view of the form of spring shown in Fig. 2 and the levers for operating the covers.

Similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

The major portion of the box, marked A in Fig. 2, is intended to carry bait, and the minor portion marked B in Fig. 2 is provided for the extra pieces of tackle such as hooks, sinkers, spinners and other small parts usually carried by fishermen. Each compartment is provided with its cover, these being marked a and b respectively. Both covers are pivotally attached or hinged to the center wall 0 which divides the compartments by means of bent over portions on the edge of each cover and on the center wall 0 all embracing a common hinge pin 03.

To one of the covers, as a, is attached a lever like projection 0 comprising a pair of parallel arms provided with a transverse pin f. Links g, g, are pivoted on and extend downward from pm 1, the lower ends,

of these links engaging the free end or loop of the spring 72. at the point m. This spring is contained in a compartment 11 above the bottom of compartment B, and is coiled around the pin is with its ends Z bear- Specification of Letterslatent.

Patented Mar. 2, 1920.

Serial No. 132,937.

ing against the bottom of compartment B. The action of spring his upward on links 9 tending to swing the lever e upward around pin d and thereby to swing the cover a intoclosed position and hold it there.

Whenever cover a is swung open, lever e and links 9 gradually move toward a position in which the points m, 7' and d are in a straight line. As soon as the cover a is opened so far that the pin f passes from the left hand to the right hand side of this straight line, the spring h tends to hold the cover a open. The cover a is therefore held in either open or closed position by the one spring h.

In like manner the cover Z), attached to the lever 11,, and by the pin 7" to the links 0, which are engaged by the spring 29, at the point 9, will be held open by the spring whenever 'r' is to the left of the line joining q and d as shown in Fig. 2, and will. be pressed toward closed position and held plosed whenever pin 1' is to the right of said The links 9 and 0 and the springs p and h are to be boxed in as shown in Fig. 2 to separate them from the contents of com- ,partment B. The spring 79, as shown in Fig. 3 is wider than and lies outside of spring h. Both springs are coiled around the same pin 71:. By means of the cleats or loops 8, s the box may be held on the person of the operator by a belt.

In operation this bait and tackle box is found to be very convenient. The fisherman usually has one hand employed in holding his pole and the line to which he intends to apply either bait or some piece of apparatus. With his free hand he can flip either cover open, and it is held open by the spring while the operator is searching for, and tak ing out, the particular pieces of apparatus or bait which he desires. The cover may be closed or may be opened by the little finger while all the other fingers of the free hand may be fully occupied in holding bait or apparatus. No latches or other fastening devices are required and thecovers are always held securely in place without the manipulation. of anything except the cover itself.

It will be obvious that when one of the covers is in full open position and the other cover is open the opening movement either arms a or the arms e into engagement with the pin 7" to automatically close the then open cover on the opening of the other cover.

Having now fully described and ascertained the nature of my invention, what I claim is 1. A bait and tackle box, a partition therein dividing the box into separate compartments and forming a spring housing, a separate cover for each compartment, a common hinge connection for both covers, a pin crossing the spring housing, a pair of coil springs wound thereon, and bearing at one end against the housing, links connected to the other ends of the springs, and arms on the two covers connected to the links at points which pass beneath the hinge connection during the swing of the respective covers whereby each cover is held with spring pressure in either its closed position or its open position and one cover if being held full open will be automatically closed on bringing the other cover to its full open position.

2. A bait and tackle'box divided into a plurality of compartments, a cover for each compartment hinged to said box on a common hinge pin, a spring inclosed in said box for each cover, means intermediate each spring and cover adapted to hold each cover in either open or closed position, said covers so arranged that as a cover on one side of said hinge pin is brought to its full open position if the cover on the opposite side of said hinge pin is full open it will be automatically closed.

3. A bait and tackle box divided into a plurality of compartments, a cover for each compartment hinged to said box, a spring inclosed in said box for each cover, means intermediate each spring and cover adapted to hold each cover in either open or closed position and preventing both covers remaining full open at the same time.

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WALTER S. COLE.

Witnesses J. E. JENGUNN, PETER 'WILLIAMSKI. 

